We are nearing the end of the year and that is, for most people, a time to reflect on life and especially the last year. I am no exception and have been spending the last few weeks thinking about where I am, what I have, what I want, what I need, what is important to me and most importantly, what I am thankful for in my life.

So I will share some of my answers with you and then I would like you to start this week’s lesson by answering some of the same questions about your own life.

If you have any questions about vocabulary, please look below. So, this week’s question is:

At the end of 2009, what are you thankful for? （今年を振り返って、あなたは何に感謝しますか？）

My answer:

First and foremost, I am thankful for my health and the health of my wife, Hiroe. We have an occasional cold or headache, but for the most part, we are healthy. And there is nothing more important than you health in my opinion.

I am thankful for my mom, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, and
all my in laws.

I am also thankful for my dog—it’s true that dogs are man’s best friend.

I am thankful for my friends. I have added some new ones this year and that is always a wonderful thing.

This December, I am thankful for my electric blanket since my bedroom and house are so cold.

And finally, I am thankful for all of my students. They are kind, motivated (usually!), funny and generous. I hope that we can continue our fun into the next year.

Happy new year everyone. I will look forward to speaking to you soon.

Stay safe and warm,

Keith//

This week's vocabularies:

reflect: 自動詞
1 〈光が〉反射する；〈鏡などが〉光［熱］を反射［反照］する, 〈音が〉反響する.
2［I （副　詞）］（…を）熟考する, 再考する, 思案する｟on, upon, over ...｠
reflect on the problem｜その問題を熟考［再考］する

exception/iksépʃən/ 名 詞•Ｕ•Ｃ
1 例外, 除外(exclusion)
with the exception of ...｜…を除いて
without exception｜例外なく.

thankful/θǽŋkfəl/
形容詞｟通例叙述｠〈人が〉（人に；…を）感謝している｟to ...；for ...｠；（…ということを）ありがたく思っている｟to do, that節｠；〈言動が〉感謝を表している. ⇒GRATEFUL[類語]
I am extremely thankful to him for his help.｜彼の援助に深く感謝している
I was thankful to breathe the fresh air.｜新鮮な空気を吸えてうれしかった
I am thankful that he came.｜彼が来てくれたことをありがたく思っている.

first and foremost
まっ先に, 何よりもまず.

occasional/əkéiʒənəl/
形容詞｟通例限定｠
1 時折の, 時々の, 折々の
an occasional mistake｜たまたま犯した誤り
an occasional thunderstorm｜時々来る雷雨
We ran into occasional difficulties.｜時々困難な問題にぶつかった.

man’s best friend: 人間のベストフレンド

an electric blanket｜電気毛布

thankful/θǽŋkfəl/
形容詞｟通例叙述｠〈人が〉（人に；…を）感謝している｟to ...；for ...｠；（…ということを）ありがたく思っている｟to do, that節｠；〈言動が〉感謝を表している. ⇒GRATEFUL[類語]
I am extremely thankful to him for his help.｜彼の援助に深く感謝している
I was thankful to breathe the fresh air.｜新鮮な空気を吸えてうれしかった
I am thankful that he came.｜彼が来てくれたことをありがたく思っている.

Hello again everyone. I hope you had a good week. It’s getting colder so please stay warm and healthy as the winter season bears down on us.

And thanks to everyone who answered last weeks question about their 死ぬまでにしたいこと list. It seems many people want to travel around the world, see the Aurora, and live in the countryside—the top three answers. Very interesting answers.

OK, let’s move to this week’s vocabulary and question:

First, Vocabulary:

bear down on: …によりかかる, のしかかる, を圧迫する；〈人を〉しかる
bear down on a cane｜つえにすがる.

click:｟略式｠（物事が）わかってくる.

polished:〈文章物腰人などが〉洗練された, 教養のある, 優雅な
a polished sentence｜洗練された文章.

witness: …を目撃する, （まのあたりに）見る, 目にする
witness a car accident｜交通事故を目撃する.

cryptic: 隠れた, 秘密の；不可解な；わけのわからない；あいまいな
a cryptic remark｜なぞめいた言葉.

puzzled: 動　詞•他動詞
1｟しばしば受身｠〈人を〉途方に暮れさせる, 当惑［困惑］させる, 困らせる
That crime puzzled the police.｜その犯罪は警察をてこずらせた.
2［III名　詞（副　詞）］〈人頭心を〉（…で）煩わす, 悩ます｟over, about, as to ...｠
puzzle oneself ［one's brains］ over a problem｜ある問題で頭を悩ます
I was puzzled as to where to go.｜どこへ行こうか悩んだ.

nútshèll
名　詞堅果の果皮［殻］.
in a nutshell
きわめて簡単に（言えば）, ほんの一言で.

And this week’s question:

What are the best and worst parts of your job?（あなたの仕事のベストな部分とワーストな部分は何ですか？）

The best part of my job is watching a student study hard for months (or more) and then witness when their English finally starts to click. I love when they really start to put their thoughts and ideas into English and really become better and more polished English speakers. It is fun for me because I get to see their hard work pay off.

I also love to meet people and talk to them about what’s important in their lives.

The worst part of my job is when I can’t explain something in English because there is no Japanese translation. Or, sometimes, American slang is so cryptic that even when you DO understand the English words, the meaning is still unclear.

Or, people ask me how to translate “おつかれ‐さま“ or “おさきに” or “おねがいします” into English and when I tell them that there really is no English translation, they look at me with a puzzled face and really don’t believe me!

So, that, in a nutshell is what I like and dislike about my job. Now, it’s your turn to think about what you like and dislike about your job.

I will look forward to hearing your thoughts and answers when we speak to each other this week. Have a great start to your week and be well.

Keith//

Hello again everyone. Thanks you for the responses last week. It was interesting to hear about your travel stories.

OK, on to this week's topic. But first, here is this week’s vocabulary:

・instead: それよりむしろ, その代わりに, そうしないで, それどころか（▼(1)ふつう文頭か文末にくるが, 文中にくることもある. 　(2)結びつける2文は対比または二者択一の内容を表し, butでつなぐことが多い）
Last night I went out, but tonight I'm staying home instead.｜昨夜は外出したが, 今夜は反対に家にいるつもりだ
If you cannot go, let him go instead.｜君が行けないなら代わりに彼を行かせなさい.

・unrealístic: 非現実的な.

・realistic: 現実主義の, 現実的な｟about ...｠；実際的な

・target: 目標、達成

・screenplay：映画［又はテレビ］のシナリオ［台本, 脚本］

・direct: 監督する

・stage: （発達成長などの）段階, 一歩；局面, 時期, 位置
at this stage｜目下のところ


Sometimes, people make a list of things they want to do at some time in their lives. In American English, we often say that these are “things I want to do before I die” lists. These aren’t just unrealistic dreams like, “I want to have a billion yen” but more realistic—things you REALLY want to target to do in your lifetime. So this week's question is:

（今週の質問は、「死ぬまでにしたいことリストを挙げて下さい。」です。）

My answer:

At this stage in my life, these are on my “things I want to do before I die” list.

I want to swim with a whale. Don't ask me how, I just want to do it.
I want to feed (maybe peanuts) and then play with and elephant.
I want to travel to the following places:
Ireland
Portugal
Greece
Turkey
Sweden
South Africa
I want to build a house for Hiroe and me.
I want to grow MOST of my own vegetables and catch most of my own fish. And have my own cow, donkey, sheep and chickens (maybe I want to be a farmer).
I want to write a screenplay and then direct the movie.
I want to speak Japanese better!

I am sure there will be more things on my list in the coming days, months and years, but that's it for now.

So, what are some things that you want to do before you die?

I will look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Have a great week and be well.

Keith//

Hello again, everyone. I hope you had a good week and a good start to December.

Please take a look at this week's vocabulary list first since they might be a little difficult.

This week's vocabulary:

shore: 河岸、海岸

bologna: ボローニャソーセージ.

a haze: ぼんやり
例：そのことをぼんやりとしか覚えていない｜I have but a faint [hazy] recollection of it.

silly: ばかばかしい, ばかげた. ⇒FOOLISH[類語]
a silly person｜良識のない人
Don't be silly.｜ばかなこと言わないで
It was a silly thing to do.｜ばかなことをしたものだ

rabbit ears: うさぎの耳（ここで使われている意味は、ピースサインをした片手を人の頭の後ろにつけて、正面から見ると頭から耳が出ているようにすること）

teacher’s nightmare：先生たちにとっての悪夢

decent：〈ふるまい言葉などが〉慎み深い, 上品な, 礼儀にかなった（⇔indecent）；〈顔などが〉魅力的な, 風さいのよい, きれいな
decent language｜品のよい言葉
be decent in conduct｜ふるまいが上品である

heavenly: 天国のような；喜びに満ちた；美しい；｟略式｠すばらしい, 魅力的な.

on a sugar high：シュガーハイ（砂糖の過剰摂取で、異常に行動が激しくなる状態になること）

OK, this week's question is:

Domestic or international—what was the first overnight trip you ever took?
（国内か海外どちらでもーあなたが初めてした旅行は何でしたか？）

The first overnight trip I remember taking was when I was I was in 5th grade or about 11 years old. It was a school trip from my hometown of Saint Paul, to Duluth, a northern Minnesota city on the shores of Lake Superior.

I remember very clearly that I couldn’t sleep the night before the trip because not only was it my first overnight trip without my parents, but it was also the first time for me to ride a train. At that time, the only way I ever traveled was by car or school bus. Another reason I couldn’t sleep was because my mother had packed a special lunch for me—a bologna, cheese, lettuce and mayonnaise sandwich (my favorite back then), potato chips, a can of soda (I can’t remember but probably Nehi grape), apple slices and two chocolate cupcakes. This was not a healthy meal but trust me, it was heavenly for a 11 year old boy. it was a spectacularly delicious lunch!

The train ride was mostly a haze, kids yelling and running around and acting silly—like any young boy’s dream so I don’t remember too many specifics. However, I do have a picture somewhere in one of my old boxes in Minnesota that was taken that day. I don’t know who took the picture but it is of one of my good friends at that time, Timmy McIntyre and me. And I of course was looking particularly silly because I was wearing a pair of GIANT SUNGLASSES (they were called, “funglasses” back then) and I was making rabbit ears behind Timmy’s head. I am sure I was a teacher’s nightmare—a relatively decent kid but completely out of control, on a sugar high and overly excited to be traveling on a train for the first time!

I don’t really remember many details about Duluth since soon after we got there, it seemed we were back on the train heading back to Saint Paul. Little did I know the next time I would ride a train would be when I lived in Tokyo—nearly 15 years later.

How about you? Can you remember anything about your first trip?

I will look forward to hearing your thoughts and memories.

Be well,

Keith//